Remington recently introduced a new take on an old shotgun, the venerable Remington 870 pump-action shotgun. The new incarnation is called the 870 MCS, which stands for "Modular Shotgun System". The key word in that phrase is "modular". The Remington 870 MCS pump-action shotgun can be configured for an operator’s specific mission requirements. Military and law enforcement operators have relied on the Remington 870 for a long time, now, because it’s reliable and tough as nails. The 870 is still in use in hotspots around the world in both urban warfare and jungle warfare environments.

The Modular Combat Shotgun (MCS) weapons package simply updates the Remington 870 shotgun with features and configurations that today’s military Special Operations (SPECOPS) personnel and law enforcement (LE) SWAT/SRT operators now look for in their tactical long guns for a variety of operational uses. First, the MCS features an M1913 top rail for attaching optical sights like the EOTech 551/552 Holographic Weapons Sight (HWS)/HOLOgraphic Diffraction Sight (HDS) and Aimpoint CompM2/ML2 Red Dot sight, for CQB (Close Quarters Battle) applications. And, second, it can be mission-specific configured. The Remington 870 MCS can be configured as a…

In CQB configuration, the MCS utilizes a 14" barrel with Rem Choke, Rem Choke barrel inserts, rifle-type sights, and Mil-Std-1913 (M1913) rails on both sides of the barrel. Ammo capacity is five rounds in the tubular magazine, plus one in the chamber. The full-length 18"-barreled conventional tactical-config offers a 7-round capacity (6+1). The accessory/auxiliary/breaching-config MCS is designed specifically for underbarrel-mounting to an M4/M4A1 Carbine. Barrel length on this version is 10 inches.

The single feature that alows this weapon system modularity is the "Rem-Loc" pistol grip allows an operator to change from pistol grip to stock configuration almost instantly. The unique pistol grip arrangement employs a dovetail and locking pin system to accomplish this. Length of pull for the pistol grip tactical stock is 13 inches. Remington’s R3 recoil pad reportedly reduces felt-recoil by roughly 30%. This level of recoil reduction results in more comfort for your shoulder and, most likely, faster follow-up shots during multiple target engagement (MTE) engagement drills and scenarios.

Charlie Cutshaw has written a nice article on the Remington 870 Modular Combat Shotgun (MCS) for the April 2005 issue of "Guns and Weapons for Law Enforcement (GWLE)". For his article, Cutshaw put some of Remington’s new TAC 8 12-gauge ammo through the MCS. The TAC 8 is a full-power 8-pellet load that achieves a tight spread of 0.5" to 0.75" per yard. Muzzle velocity (MV) is 1325 feet-per-second (fps). Firing slugs at a distance of 25 yards, Cutshaw was able to put 3 slugs into a "cloverleaf" (all rounds touching) with the 18" barrel. Pretty good.

All Remington 870 Modular Combat Shotguns are manufactured in a dedicated area at their Ilion, New York facility where all of Remington’s military and law enforcement (Mil/LE) shotguns are now built. The company’s new 870P MAX shotgun is made in the same area of the facility. The Remington 870P MAX shotgun utilizes a Wilson Combat/Scattergun Technologies Ghost Ring Rear Sight, XS interchangeable front sight, Davis Speedfeed® IV-s 13" LOP (length-of-pull) full pistol grip tactical buttstock, Surefire Integrated Shotgun Weaponlights (Model 618 FA)-a 6V Shotgun tactical white light, 2-shot extension magazine tube, and the same Remington R3 recoil pad that the MCS uses.

Vehicle Defense/Security Config.

Accessory/Auxiliary/Door-Breaching Config.

Back in August, 2003, DefenseReview wrote about the FNH Tactical Police Shotgun (TPS), which is FN Herstal’s take on a modern tactical pump-action shotgun. Well, it looks like FNH’s job just got harder in this specific arena. To say that Remington has strong name recognition in the shotgun market is would be a tremendous understatement, and the model 870 shotgun has a powerful and proven service history going all the way back to the Vietnam war. It’s simply battle-proven/combat-proven, and has a military experiential/service advantage that the FNH Tactical Police Shotgun (TPS) simply can’t match. That said, FN Herstal enjoys a completely dominant position with regards to machine guns (FN M249 LMG/SAW/MK46 MOD 0 LMG/SAW and FN M240B/M240G GPMG) and assault rifles (M16A3/A4) for the U.S. military.

If you’d like to inquire about the new Remington 870 Modular Combat Shotgun (MCS) or 870P MAX combat/tactical pump-action shotguns, you can contact Remington Law Enforcement (LE) & Government Sales Division by phone at 336-548-8899. Greg Foster is Remington’s Director of LE/Government Sales.

About David Crane

David Crane started publishing online in 2001. Since that time, governments, military organizations, Special Operators (i.e. professional trigger pullers), agencies, and civilian tactical shooters the world over have come to depend on Defense Review as the authoritative source of news and information on "the latest and greatest" in the field of military defense and tactical technology and hardware, including tactical firearms, ammunition, equipment, gear, and training.